NHL playoff format not on the agenda at annual GM meetings

There will be a laundry list of topics up for discussion at the annual GM meetings this week in southern Florida, but the current NHL playoff format will not be one of them.

"It's not on the agenda," NHL senior executive vice president Colin Campbell said Monday, according to TSN's Frank Seravalli.

The NHL changed its playoff format after restructuring each conference from three divisions to two ahead of the 2013-14 season. The switch was made in an effort to build and promote divisional rivalries.

The change has worked to some degree, but later rounds of playoff action can lose steam as a result, with serious contenders forced to face each other early in the postseason.

Despite disapproval from many fans and even some players, hockey's higher-ups are quite content with the existing playoff format and the results it has yielded.

"I would say that there doesn't appear to be a consensus or desire for change," deputy commissioner Bill Daly said Monday, according to Seravalli. "The current system has done what it was intended to do. It's emphasized and featured rivalries in early-round matchups. And that has generated enhanced interest and better (television) ratings."

Based on the standings entering Monday's action, three of the NHL's top five teams are guaranteed to be eliminated from the playoffs before the conference finals.